Travel, History, Costuming, Nature, Writing, Great Food and the good things in life! Authoress Michelle Novak

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Tag Archives: Frogs

What an adventure I’m having with my mother Lita (the artist) and step-dad, at the Bristol Renaissance Faire each weekend while we man our little shop The Quill and Brush (selling our books and art)! We are three weekends past, with six more to go. Though the weather has been mostly agreeable (even if beastly hot and humid), we’ve already met with several thunderstorms that had us covering our heads as we hovered inside of our tent…

Because we are playing as village merchants from the 16th century, we can’t go about lunching on our regular 21st century fare, and using our plastic cutlery! The little picnic shown here is an example of what we’ve been nibbling instead (though I sort of cheated with the glass bowls)…

Unfortunately last Sunday morning, a storm blew in even before we opened for the day and an intense wind billowed up our tent and flung my table away with a crash! Our delicious food, so nicely prepared, went into the mud and my glass bowls shattered…

But the frogs sure didn’t mind the rain! This little guy hopped into the tent, surprising me when I found him hanging around under my table of books…

And we see this busy dude each day, going in and out of his hole right next to our tent…

And after another thunderstorm this last Saturday, this crayfish emerged (likely flooded out of his hole). That was pretty neat, for we don’t see these all that often…

I rolled my ankle walking in the faire’s midday parade and have had a mean little sprain for over a week. We sweated buckets, got crispy in the sun, and labored with our bins, tables and tent. And I might have screeched a little as we covered our heads and huddled as the thunder and lightening boomed and lit the sky!

However, reward comes only after a challenge and my reward are the smiles I see when I share my stories. It makes my heart sing. And how happy I am to watch one of my books being carried away, knowing the delightful adventure that awaits the reader!

I’ve been nursing my sprained ankle with good food, for I can’t imagine anything being better medicine? Delicious whole wheat pasta with veggies and parmesan shavings…

Arugula salad with soft boiled eggs…

Salmon and roasted veggies, delicious! If you like roasted salmon, try this little concoction I spoon over mine…

Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, seed mustard and honey! Oh heavens! When the fish cooks, this glaze hardens on the top and it is just wonderful!

Outside the high temperatures have brought on one of the loveliest parts of summer, the cicadas’ song! Just snapped a photo of this handsome creature. Look at those pretty pink flecks in his wings! Magical!

Here’s wishing you sunshine in your life today, and many joys from life’s simple pleasures!

The fairies can be found all over Bristol, but they are very sneaky! Sometimes you’ll find them up in a tree, or hiding in a thicket of green. Sometimes they are within a foot of you and you don’t even notice until someone points it out…they’re stealth like that. We can also attribute this to the well-known fact (as I was told by one citizen of Bristol) that adults usually don’t see fairies, only children. So how do you know when the fairies are about? If you start sneezing a lot, it means the fairy folk are nearby. And I thought I just had allergies!

The witches are hilarious! Every time they pose for someone’s photo, they scowl and grimace. One witch carries a little enclosed basket with a green frog in it (don’t worry…not a real frog). She’d turned someone into that frog with a spell, she’d said. I heard a man ask her if she could turn his wife into a frog? She said she’d love to, if only there were enough room in the basket! And then she grimaced some more. One right after the other, witty little comebacks and expressions, so funny!

The witches delighted a crowd by singing improvisational songs to the strumming of a guitarist. Witches…you need to make an album! Those songs of doom were delightful and so clever! Encore!